In the age of cold weapons, soldiers had armor. But when the war entered the age of firearms, no matter how thick the plate armor was, it could not resist the shooting of muskets at a distance of 30 meters. Since plate armor was useless, soldiers in the age of firearms did not wear armor.
But as artillery firepower increased, fragments of artillery shells fluttered across the battlefield. At this time, the armor, the soldier's protective clothing, returned to the battlefield again, but the name was changed and it was called body armor.
Metal material - the age of tin cans
During "World War I", both the Allies and the Allies put a layer of steel body armor on their machine gun gloves.
These tin cans really work. In World War I, 80% of all British deaths on the battlefield were caused by stray bullets and shrapnel. After wearing body armor, the casualty rate is reduced by 58%. During the "World War II" period, the situation did not change much. The body armor was still mainly made of steel, but the strength increased and the thickness became thinner, so it could be worn on individual soldiers.
By the end of World War II, there had been progress in materials, and aluminum alloy, a high-strength light metal, was also used as a material for body armor.
Synthetic Materials - The Age of Soldiers
DuPont in the United States mass-produced nylon in the 1940s. The U.S. military developed the M52 nylon body armor in 1952.
But the strength of nylon body armor is still not enough. During the Korean War, our army used Type 50 submachine guns to shoot with one shot and two eyes. In the Vietnam War, due to the hot and humid weather, the M52 nylon body armor was thick and airtight, and few soldiers liked to wear it.
Since the late 1970s, the US military has been equipped with RASGT body armor made of Kevlar material. This body armor was equipped until the late 1990s.
Although this body armor is lightweight, it can only intercept pistol rounds and slow-moving shrapnel. Unable to intercept rifle warheads, let alone heavy machine guns.
In order to intercept high-velocity projectiles such as rifle bullets and machine gun bullets, soft bulletproof materials cannot do it. Hard armor plates must be filled in.
In the impression of many people, the development of body armor in my country is relatively late. actually not! When resisting the U.S. aggression and aiding Vietnam, in order to deal with the air-explosive bombs dropped by the U.S. aircraft, our army equipped the car drivers on the Ho Chi Minh Trail with fiberglass bulletproof vests.
In the 1980s, the General Rear Military Equipment Research Institute developed the TF90-54 and TF90-79 bulletproof vests. It can resist the shooting of the Type 54 pistol within 5 meters and the Type 79 submachine gun within 10 meters.
After the 1990s, Chinese scientific researchers made persistent efforts to develop a soft body armor with ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber as the main material, which is beyond the reach of all types of body armor in the world.
004-Bulletproof vest
Since the beginning of the new century, all countries in the world have accelerated the development of aramid fiber bulletproof vests. China is not far behind and has developed the "2004-Bulletproof Vest", which is a new generation of individual bulletproof vests in my country.
With the advancement of new material technology, full-body heavy-duty body armor is bound to appear on the battlefield. Combined with the whole body exoskeleton technology, the invulnerable and powerful warriors in the future will surely subvert the old mode of warfare. Old-fashioned gunpowder weapons may be obsolete. High-velocity weapons that can penetrate existing body armor are bound to emerge. This may be another major change in the era of hot weapons!
